Obama elected 44th president  —  ‘Change has come to America,’ first African-American leader tells country  —  Supporters of Barack Obama celebrate as they await his victory address at Grant Park in Chicago.  —  ‘End of a long journey’  —  Nov. 4: John McCain concedes to Barack Obama …

Bill Ayers Speaks  —  CHICAGO — In his first interview since he became an issue in the 2008 presidential campaign, Bill Ayers, the former Weather Underground leader, said today that he had a distant relationship with Barack Obama and that Obama's opponents had turned him into “a cartoon character.”

Lieberman: ‘I Fear’ That ‘America Will Not Survive’ If Democrats Get 60 Senate Seats  —  With the possibility that Democrats might soon gain a filibuster proof majority in the Senate, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) has been openly flirting with thoughts of voting with his conservative colleagues.

Live-Blogging Election Night  —  10.54 pm.  Initiatives easing marijuana laws are outpolling Obama in Massachusetts and Michigan.  People are less afraid than politicians.  —  10.52 pm.  You drinking yet?  Stupid question.  I haven't touched a drop.  Honest.  But I'm close.

Fox's Nina Easton: 'I think there's a real possibility' that this is now a ‘center-left’ country.»  —  This evening on Fox News, host Brit Hume commented, “It has been conventional wisdom for some time, and I certainly thought it was true, that this is a center right country.”

EMANUEL OFFERED TOP OBAMA SLOT  —  Three House Democratic sources confirmed Rep. Rahm Emanuel has been offered a Chief of Staff job with an Obama White House and is currently “agonizing” over whether to take the job.

Why O Why O Why  —  from our David Kahane's amanuensis:

RAW DATA: Text of John McCain's Concession Speech  —  John McCain delivers his concession speech after losing the presidential election to Barack Obama  —  JOHN MCCAIN: Thank you.  Thank you, my friends.  Thank you for coming here on this beautiful Arizona evening.

Tim Robbins Couldn't Vote — Cops Called  —  Tim Robbins tried voting at his NYC polling place earlier today.  There was some kind of ruckus and the cops were called.  —  Apparently Robbins has been voting at that polling place for more than a decade, but today his name wasn't on the register.

Obama's civilian security force: Billy club-wielding security guards at Philly polls  —  Here's the vid of billy club-wielding “security” guards at the 1221 Fairmount Ave. polling place in Philly from Election Journal.  Just as I suspected, these guys look like NBPP from the emblem on one of the “guard's” jackets.

Republican National Committee Prepares for Computerized Voting Fraud Legal Battle  —  Forensicon, Inc., a Chicago-based computer forensics company, was contacted last Thursday by a security firm lining up vendors to assist the Republican National Committee with consulting related to potential allegations of computerized voter fraud.

What Freaks Me Out About This Election  —  is how oblivious to facts people have been.  Everything about Obama's judgment and radicalism — whether Sean Hannity or Stanley Kurtz or Andy McCarthy etc. is telling you about it — was essentially deemed irrelevant (including largely by the McCain campaign …

Waiting for a Concession  —  Phoenix, Arizona — A somber mood here at the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix, where Republicans, dressed in their best Indian summer cocktail attire, are gathering to hear John McCain concede to Barack Obama.  Jim Woolsey was seated below a mounted television …

Steve Schmidt Talks On The Final McCain Flight  —  John McCain came back to bid farewell to his traveling press corps on his final campaign flight from New Mexico to Arizona.  A few minutes later, his chief political strategist Steve Schmidt stood in the aisle surrounded by reporters' digital audio recorders.

Overcome  —  I have argued in this space that I believe that neither of this year's nominees was likely to be a successful President.  I continue to believe that Barack Obama is likely to be a poor President who will attempt to implement policies that will be detrimental to the national interest.

Murtha wins reelection despite controversial remarks  —  Veteran Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) defeated his GOP challenger William Russell after his toughest reelection race in his 34-year House career.  —  NBC News projected Murtha the winner with 56 percent of the precincts in his district reporting …

Democrats unseat GOP House incumbents  —  Democrats now hold every House seat in New England  —  Democratic challenger Jim Himes defeated U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., on Tuesday to give Democrats every House seat from New England.  —  DeLay: Dems will cause damage

TEN THESES ON PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA  —  The historic election of Barack Obama to the presidency of the United States calls for reflections far beyond these provisional thoughts, but here are ten:  —  1. The original thesis of the Obama candidacy was that, in a multiparty field …

Shays Concedes  —  New England's last remaining Republivan in the U.S. House of Representatives was swept out of office today, largely by Democratic surge in his hometown of Bridgeport and an Obama wave throughout the 4th Congressional District.  —  U.S. Rep. Chris Shays conceded defeat …

Vote Early, Vote Often  —  An Obama voter in Pennsylvania admits to CNN that he voted multiple times:

Waneth the Trembling Moon  —  From my occasional glances at the TV, waneth is what it doeth.  —  I'm thinking of another election 29½ years ago, when Margaret Thatcher swept into power in the U.K. As I recall, there was no great fuss one way or the other about her being the first female Prime Minister.

Watching Florida: Real Vote Confirms Obama Lead  —  Bush won the huge swing county of Pinellas — [Sarasota ]— the St. Petersburg-Clearwater are — by a narrow margin in 2004.  Obama won it by 8 pts in 2008 — 35,000 votes.  Bush won Seminole County in central Florida with ease; Obama's leading McCain with half of the vote in.

Nader out, predicts Obama landslide  —  Ralph Nader, the self-styled consumer crusader and perennial third-party presidential candidate, has conceded, telling the Free Press about 7 tonight that there was going to be “a landslide” for Barack Obama.  —  “The streets are going to be filled with revelry …